Glory Eastern Review - Part 1 (5/1- 5/8)

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We drove down from Raleigh on Friday (600+ miles, about 10 hours) and checked in at the Radisson (Port Canaveral) about 4:00. We had a couple of drinks by the pool and headed out to a wonderful restaurant on the water (sorry, I can’t remember the name!). I thought the Radisson was great and it was fun to be around so many fellow excited cruisers. You can't beat the free parking for the week.

 

We grabbed a cab to the port about 11:30 and started the embarkation process. I didn’t time it exactly, but altogether it was probably less than an hour. For those obsessing about the Fun Pass problems, my estimate is that the Fun Pass saved us ten minutes, maybe – other ports may be different, but at Port Canaveral, everyone goes in one line and the time saving is only when you reach the desk to check in.

 

We stopped for champagne in the lobby bar (can you tell we were excited?) and then headed up for our traditional ship exploration. We found our dining room table in the Platinum Room and went up to our cabin (8381 Verandah aft) and dropped off our carry-ons. Then up to the Lido deck for lunch. We passed through the Red Sail and on to the grill, which didn’t have a line, because very few people had found it! Had a delicious lunch and then explored some more. Our luggage arrived quickly and we were able to unpack before the muster drill, which went relatively quickly and was pretty painless.

 

Overall Comments on the Ship: I though it was beautiful and colorful, although I can see how some might find it too bright and gaudy. It is not possible to navigate the whole length of the ship on some levels, and we did get confused a few times, but if you look at the maps and think about where you’re going and plan your route its really not bad. There are plenty of spots to sit in the sun or the shade, unless you feel you have to be right by the pool (I’ve never quite understood that). There was a lot of chair saving, but again, it was only near the pool. Some of the upper decks fore and aft, are great places to relax. I did not find the ship to be smoky, unless I was in an enclosed smoking area, like a small bar. I found this to be the roughest of our four cruises, but I’m not sure if it was the sea conditions or the ship. Others made the same comment, however. My husband had to take Dramamine twice for mild queasiness, but felt better right away.

 

Cabin: We did a balcony guarantee and were upgraded to an 8C on the Verandah deck aft. The location was VERY convenient to the Lido (casual food area) and the pools, but is WAS noisy. We were below the Red Sail (roughly under the Asian serving window) and there was a lot of noise from above, even during the night (cleaning?). I will probably not go the Guarantee route again for that reason. I’m a light sleeper, so it bothered me, but it didn’t bother my husband at all. Otherwise, our cabin was great – loved the balcony, of course – and very roomy. We had plenty of room for everything, including in the bathroom. I never felt cramped at all. Our last cruise was on RCCL Sovereign of the Seas, so I guess I enjoyed the space even more this time! Our steward was adequate, not outstanding. He kept our ice filled and the room clean and neat, but couldn’t see to handle any special request. We asked early in the week that the Cokes in the mini-bar be exchanged for Diet Cokes – they showed up on the last night!

 

Dining: We ate in the Red Sail for breakfast on all but the last day when we went ot the dining room. (I should say that my husband ate in the Red Sail everyday and brought me my breakfast in the cabin – my own personal room service!). The food was adequate. We didn’t like the Red Sail for lunch, so we ate from the grill, deli, Asian station or fish and chips for lunch – all were great. They’ve added some new pizza varieties since we last cruised, like sausage/garlic/goat cheese – Yum! We had dinner in the dining room every night except two and the food was adequate to good, not great in my opinion. WE had a table for eight and only six ever showed up. It was a fun group of four couples, two early thirties and the other couple about our age (we’re fifty). We made reservations for Monday night for the Emerald Room and it was really wonderful. I highly recommend it, but try not to eat much the day before you go – I was stuffed. But it was elegant, the food was excellent and the service was outstanding. The only other night we didn’t eat in the dining room was the evening after St. Maartin – we were tired (we had late seating) and ordered room service. I had never ordered room service on Carnival before, but I will again. Besides the sandwiches that night, we ordered cookies, brownies and milk a couple of nights after we came in from the bars or shows – so decadent! Service was quick and the food was food.

 

More later.......

 

Glory 5/1/04

[luv2cruise03]

Thanks for the review so far. We leave on the 29th, Eastern also.

 

5/04 Glory Cruise

Carnival Glory May 29, 2004

Carnival Pride June 21, 2003

Carnival Jubilee July 2001

Carnival Destiny Feb. 1998

 

[ken_nyc]

Thank you for part 1, looking forward to part 2. We are also going on the Eastern in August. By the way luv2cruise03, I lived in Athens in the mid 1970's and passed through your town on the way to Atlanta many times. Boy do I miss Georgia, It was one of the best times of my life!!

 

Carnival Pride 8/17/02 (Western Caribbean)

Carnival Glory 8/21/2004 (Eastern Caribbean) 30th Anniversary Cruise

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[Cyt4SoreEyes]

Great first part of your review...I can't wait for the rest as our group will be leaving on May 29th as well for same iteniary as yours was. I think we might try what you guys did and go to the grill first day hopefully there wont be long lines for us as well..hhehe Thanks again for taking time out to do a review of your experiences on the Carnival Glory just helps make it seem more surreal!!

 

Cyt

 

Atlantic

Oceanic

Norway

Enchantment of the Seas

Destiny

Voyager of the Seas

Conquest March 30th 2003

Glory May 29th 2004

Caribbean Princess Oct 23 2004

 

 

 

 

[cruisingrobert]

thanks for the great review fellow North Carolinian - did you use the Radisson shuttle and if so, how far in advance did you sign up to be shuttled over? We are booked for Spring Break next year, and have room reservations for Radisson.

[handbellplayer]

Quick answer on the shuttle - We didn't ask for a reservation until we checked in and at that time the earliest we could get on th shuttle was 12:30. We like to get on the ship as early as possible, so we called a cab for 11:00; he came about 11:15 and we shared the cab/van with several others and it was only $5 + tip.

 

We took the shuttle back to the hotel after dembarkation, though.

 

Glory 5/1/04